Saints fire Spagnuolo, Flajole

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Saints head coach Sean Payton didn’t wait long for his first significant offseason move.

Two days after he was re-instated by the NFL, Payton fired defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo and secondary coach Ken Flajole. The Saints announced the dismissals in a news release late Thursday afternoon.

Spagnuolo was hired by Payton early in 2012.

The Saints defense allowed 7.042 yards, an NFL record for a 16 game season.

On Wednesday, in his first meeting with the media since his return, Payton was critical of the defense. “When you played the way we played defensively, it is going to be hard to win.” The Saints finished 7-9.

He said defensive meetings late Wednesday evening would be painful.

They were for Spagnuolo and Flajole.

The Saints will switch to a 3-4 defense. “Philosophically were are changing our defense to a 3-4 alignment and right now is the best time to accomplish this transition.”